Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

Gollum,
You know me and you know I would LOVE to prove this one right more than anyone. But do me and other a favor and explain the pixs to everyone. Most of what I heard is that the gold was covered in a " black " coating and these are in green... I am " assuming " that is because it is silver. But please explain the pixs so that we " all " understand better. Thankx bud
PLL

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

Float - well that makes it just a bit more work for you, at least you can be (fairly) confident that no glacier carried it there, plus most copper ores are relatively heavy (as in specific gravity) so don't tend to travel so far via erosion.

HOLA mi amigo Real deTayopa,

While I cannot speak for the copper mining companies (gee and I only asked them for a small commission %....$$$$) considering how active they are here in Cochise county I cannot imagine that they would turn up their collective noses at a commercial grade copper deposit in Mexico. Let me see if I can stir up any contacts? You never know unless the questions are asked right? 8)

Darned float ore specimens can be a most aggravating and frustrating thing aren't they? A buddy of mine found a piece of float quite unlike anything we ever saw while prospecting in Yukon almost twenty years ago, and he had it assayed. I told him it was not worth the bother unless he had a good idea where it came from (Yukon has had plenty of glacial activity - just look at the diamond prospectors experiences and you will see what I mean.) but he said what the heck and went ahead anyway. The assay report came back very rich in platinum, over 10 ounces per ton (if memory serves) and you can guess what he did next - several extensive searches of the valleys and mountains all around the spot where he found that float for miles and miles, and never did find the source. He did find some interesting gold showings that would probably be worth investigating further, but in very remote places; the platinum was a 'will-o-the-wisp' tantalizer. At least in S. California the odds are that any float is NOT glacial in origins. I know that if I found interesting float like you have Mike, I would sure investigate it further... There are many ways to make money in treasure hunting & prospecting...$$$$$

Good luck and good hunting, I hope you find the treasures that you seek.

Oroblanco

SUPPORT THE BEEF INDUSTRY - EAT BEEF
"We must find a way, or we will make one."--Hannibal Barca

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

Originally Posted by pegleglooker

Gollum,
You know me and you know I would LOVE to prove this one right more than anyone. But do me and other a favor and explain the pixs to everyone. Most of what I heard is that the gold was covered in a " black " coating and these are in green... I am " assuming " that is because it is silver. But please explain the pixs so that we " all " understand better. Thankx bud
PLL

Hey PLL,

If you read the letter to Desert Magazine from the anonymous rockhound that found them, you will see that the black coating does not come from Desert Varnish (as a lot of people think).

When he had the nuggets assayed, they showed a content of 70% Gold, 15-20% Silver, and 15-20% Copper. See, it has long been my theory (secretly) that you don't have to just look for black gold nuggets to find them. The easier method would be to find an area that is heavily mineralized, and has all the elements of the assay in one place. When you find a spot like that (that has copper ore, silver ore, and gold which is the most elusive, but not necessary to zero in on the right spot), you know you have a good possibility of being right there.

With enough wandering and mineral hunting, you can pretty much localize the places to spend the most time on based on the minerals you find there. For instance, if you find a set of hills covered in black rocks, that doesn't have any copper ore, that can't be the place (copper is a goodly portion of the mineral content of the nuggets). If there is no silver ore, it can't be the place either (silver is present in the same quantities as the copper).

See what I mean. I have sort of been keeping that idea under my hat, until I had a few likely spots. I feel comfortable sharing now!

Best-Mike

............... ALWAYS REMEMBER: Just because someone publicly says one thing, does not mean they say the same thing privately!

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

Problem with that theory is that you have to find the ores in veins (which I haven't yet). I am close though, as you can see by the copper ore (green), the edges are sharp, and the break doesn't look THAT old (but that sort of thing is hard to be sure of in a place that gets no rain). If there is a vein of copper there, I will find it.

Best-Mike

............... ALWAYS REMEMBER: Just because someone publicly says one thing, does not mean they say the same thing privately!

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

Real de Tayopa,

Have you checked out http://www.geolisting.com? If you are looking to sell, lease or option your copper properties, it would not hurt to check them out. Also, not sure if they operate in your area but try Asarco - they have Mexican mines they are operating.

Good luck and good hunting, I hope you find the treasures that you seek.

Oroblanco

SUPPORT THE BEEF INDUSTRY - EAT BEEF
"We must find a way, or we will make one."--Hannibal Barca

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

HIO DESERT RAT: I have been waiting patiently to hear about your rectangle, what happened? From your post, having no co-ordinates to check it by, I would assume that it was an old fort from it's size and since I seem to see a no of roads converging upon it.

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

Okay,

I haven't spoken about this much, but I will now. I have no idea about the black nuggets in PegLeg's Story, but the man whose letter appears in Desert Magazine, left quite a few clues as to the location of his nuggets.

Most common knowledge from those clues place the location of the nuggets somewhere around Tule Wash. This is right by Salton City, on the West Side of the Salton Sea, along HWY 86.

I have been going to the area off and on for a while now, testing my mineralization/ore theory. More than just clues given by the anonymous man in the article, many parts of his story can be checked to see if they match different areas. Let's go over some of the information given in the story:

1. The man was a long time rock hound: What I have found over the last couple of days is that THIS AREA IS A ROCKHOUND'S PARADISE! Not only is there just about every type of mineralization you could imagine (minerlization is ALWAYS good for gold hunting). Below are some of the specimens I picked up today:

Some of the most beautiful Petrified Wood I have ever seen!

Also a less colorful example:

Metal Detecting without a Gold Machine is difficult as there are TONS of these ferrous metallic nuggets (you MUST have good discrimination):

Another great piece of copper infused rock (all the dark splotches are deep green, and I could hammer out a sheet of copper from this rock):

2. The anonymous man states that the nuggets are worn smooth with shiny black coatings: This means that there must have been a lot of water in that place to wear off the sharp edges of the gold, then, there had to have been a loooooong period of time when the nuggets were exposed to the atmosphere without much water for the black oxides to form on the nuggets.

This entire area was under water for eons. Most of the rocks and minerals you will find there are worn smooth! Most of the area looks like mountains eroded in place, and dissolved into the water. It is an amazing place.

I personally believe that if there are any more of the black gold nuggets that the anonymous man found, they are in the Tule Wash Area.

Best-Mike

............... ALWAYS REMEMBER: Just because someone publicly says one thing, does not mean they say the same thing privately!

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

Gollum,
I recently saw a mid 1800's map that shows a route that went almost a directly from Yuma to San Sebastion. The route went just past the dunes near Yuma and then NW directly to San Sebastion. I also found some Cave Couts quotes that said they were going from 25-30 miles a day. Since both of these are from the right timeline it puts a lot of credence in your Tule Wash idea. It's about 75 miles from Yuma to San Sebastion or about 2 or 3 days ride. If the storm hits on the beginning of the 3rd day and he went more north as in the story he may have been in this area. Tie the Peralta angle with the load of gold going south of the border. They could have gone via San Berdo to Indio and south. Maybe attacked by Indians and fled southeast toward the Mt's and back to your area. Finally " the man who found pegleg's gold " as you have said was a rockhound and if this is a place that a rockhound would love I would " assume " that he most likely knew of the area or was told by other rockhounds about it. Anyway to me it would surely be a place of interest. Just thought you might like to know that there are some factual things that might help your cause. I believe one should have a " open " mind on these stories and let the story take you where ever...
Pll

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

Hey All,
I just wanted to know if anyone knows someone who can get access to the Carrizo Impact Area. If you do please send me a PM. I'm looking for someone staioned at El Centro Naval base or someone in San Diego who might be in the ordance section.

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

Hey All,
Just going thru some of my old notes and ran across one of my references from " Mysterious West " by Choral Pepper and Brad Williams. In this book Choral talks about how a caravan of raw ore from the Peralta family was being sent to Mexico sometime in the 1830's. Seems one brother led the caravan and the other brother was to catch up later. When the one brother went to find the caravan he never found it. When he arrived in Mexico the caravan never showed up. It simply vanished. Choral believes that the local Indians attacked the caravan and took only the horse's ( that's all the valued ). Then sometime later when Pegleg ( Thomas L Smith ) came by to steal horses with Chief Walkara he simply ran across the old bags and grabbed some ore to see what was so valueable that someone send so much to Mexico. According to Choral the ore where the Peralta's were from was a just like what was found ( a combo of gold,silver and copper ). So maybe someone should be looking where a old Indian village was. This may also explain why the " the man who found Pegleg's gold " saw no hills or butte's. So does anyone know anything about this train that left the Peralta's ? is it true ? When did it leave ? Did anyone go looking for it? what would have been the trail they would have gone on ? Anything ?

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

Greetings Pegleglooker and everyone,

Where any story contains the name Peralta, be sure to have that "grain of salt" on hand - for while there are real, documented Peraltas, and they did own at least two rich mines, neither of them were ever "lost" and the Peralta name is directly associated with fraud such as the massive Reavis land grant fraud. A story of a Peralta pack train is in all probability either a work of fiction or a mixing of different stories, which also happens all too frequently.

Good luck and good hunting bud, I hope you find the treasures that you seek.

Oroblanco

SUPPORT THE BEEF INDUSTRY - EAT BEEF
"We must find a way, or we will make one."--Hannibal Barca

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

Thanks Guys,
This is why I take a TON of time to gather as much as I can before I will ever sit down and put paper to pen. I thought this was a liitle off because from what I read the Peralta's mines where in AZ right ?? Not in California. So why would a pack train go from AZ to CA to Mex Was there a mine north of here ?? Didn't they live in Calaveras County ?? or am I mixing things together ??